MATCH REPORT: by Norman Kang

Match: Balmain AA6B v Burwood
Venue: Callan Park, Rozelle
Date: Sat 8 May 1999
Time 1.00pm

How sweet it is, and victory at last. I have the great pleasure of writing the report of our first victory this season against Burwood at Callan Park. Somehow, our team seemed to gel together that day, like a well-oiled engine. A few contributing factors that lead to our fine performance are as follows.

Gary Van Heugten playing an excellent sweeping role. Truly a masterstroke, as he was able to provide stability in the backs. Even scored a goal from a penalty kick. A testament to how well our backs played was that the goalkeepers (Carlos and Ricky) did not have to make a single save during the game.

As a result of the backs playing well, the midfielders were able to shift into higher gear and play with a lot more confidence. Pier D’Angelo, playing his first game of the season, added more strength to an already strong midfield, by creating countless opportunities with well timed passes to the forwards.

Glenn Bacic ran like a dog, both in attack and defence. He seemed to be in the right place at the right time, and was well rewarded with a spectacular goal. He may well have played himself into State of Origin contention (if there is one).

Right from the start, our team were superior to the opposition, as we played majority of the first half in their half. However, it took us at least twenty minutes before we scored our first goal, thanks to the brilliant skill of Sam, who calmly potted one past the goalkeeper into the back of the net.

That first goal seemed to calm our nerves down, and it provided an impetus for us to score a further two goals, giving us a 3-0 lead at half time. It could easily have been five or six nil with many opportunities being lost. The reasons may be due to our nerves, overkeeness to score and also some fine saves from the opposition’s goalkeeper.

Serge Fiorenza came on in the second half and immediately injected some speed into the forward line. He scored our fourth goal 5 minutes into the second half, and also our fifth goal half an hour later, with the final score being 5-0.

Allocating Pele points was difficult this week as, without exception, every player in the team played well. Eagerness to support each other permitted a strong passing game to which all contributed.

Pele points goes to the following, for the reasons mentioned above:

Gary Van Heugten 3 points
Pier D’Angelo 2 points
Glenn Bacic 1 point

Pele medal count:
(points from match reports)

5 Joey, Gary
4 Russell
2 Sergio, Sam, Pier
1 Carlos, Glenn

Golden Boot count:
(goals scored)

5 Sergio
2 Gary
1 Russell, Glenn, Sam

Match: Balmain AA6B v Balmain AA6A
Venue: Callan Park, Rozelle
Date: Sat 15 May 1999
Time 1.00pm

and

Match: Balmain AA6B v Canterbury
Venue: Ewen Park, Hurlstone Park
Date: Sun 16 May 1999
Time 1.00pm
(rescheduled from washout on 1 May)